Apparatus and method for cleaning tobacco



April 4, 1939.

| KERSEY APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLEANING TOBACCO Filed March 8 195:5 '4 sheets-$11? "1 A iril 4, 1939; L. R. KERSEY 2,152,965

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLEANING TOBACCO Filed March 8, 1953 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 4, 1939. R. k ERSEY 2,152,965

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLEANING TOBACCO Filed March 8, 1933 4 S heets--Sheet 3 April 4, 1939. 1 R KERS 2,152,965

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CLEANING TOBACCO Filed March 8, 193:5 4 Sheeis-Sheet 4 Patented .4

1 srarss PATENT orrlcs;

m HI'I'IIODI'OIGIIANING m late an. more. :1 Claims. ,(01. m-ss) "lhe present invention relates apparatus method for cleaning-and preparing tobacco leaf, for re-drying. h

After tobacco has been cured, and before itis sold, by the planter, a number of leaves, usually eight or nine, are grouped with their stalks toether and another leaf, '0. tie leaf, is wrapped about the assembled stalks to form a tobacco the hands shaken manually. By this method, an

fore they are-passedthrough the re-dryer, it has operator shakes the tobacco hands vigorously to ceTuse the leaves to be agitated or shakemso that the major portion of the dirt will fall from the leaves.

The tobacco hands are brought in baskets to the point at which the shaking operation is conducted and in performing the shaking operation, the shakers remove har'ids from the various baskets, and shake the hands, which are subsequently assembled upon a stick. The hands are placed upon the'stick by spreading the leaves so that the hands will straddle the stick with their butt ends uppermost. The baskets delivered to the shakers may each be from different-planters and the hands assembled upon the sticks are usually mixed to. produce a uniformity of the grade of the tobacco. The sticks, with the tobacco hands placed thereom'are then passed through a redrying apparatus.

After the tobaecohands have been manually shaken in the manner referred to above and bei been proposed-that they be passed through a chamber in which they arev subjected to blasts of air, steam, or other fluids, these blasts being intended to further loosen and remove particles of foreign matter from the tobacco hands.

Neither the shaking operation referred to above nor'the subjection of the tobacco hands to. blasts of air or the like have been completely effective from.

also very apt to cause'breakage and shattering of the leaves of the hands;

,: The thorough cleaning of tlfe materially improves its quality and the quality of the final tobacco product manufactured there- The cleanliness of the tobacco is alsoimportant to concerns which import tobacco hands into certain countries from the United States toeffect a saving in import duties. Since the ordinary methods of removing foreign particles from the tobacco which have been referred to above do not satisfactorily clean-the tobacco, the result is that if tobacco treated by these previous methods is exported to countries is which levy a duty on tobacco in acordance with its weight, the importing concern must neces sarily pay a tax upon the foreign matter included with the tobacco hands. .The principal object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for thoroughlycleaning tobacco and readily and efliciently preparing it for re-drying and which will perform this operation much more readily than it can be performed by the usual processes and apparatuses;

The apparatusis alsodesigned insucha manner} that attendants take the tobacco hands from the 1 feed conveyor, which conveyor is of such a form r that the leaves of the hand may be divided so that the. hands will straddle the conveyor, with their butt ends uppermost. This conveyor delivers the hands to a treating chamber provided with a shaking conveyor which removes the tobacco hands from the infeed conveyor. Means is provided to vibrate or shake the latter conveyor, this conveyor and the shaking .means beingso declliated with considerably more effectiveness than can beaccomplished by a manual shaking. In

order to further assist in the cleaning and the preparation of the hands, a current of warm air aids in removing foreign matter from the tobacco hands and theeifect of the moisture in the'current of warm air is to soften the leaves and theresigned that'thetobacco handsareshakenor os-' 'Ihewarmmoistairalsopreventsunduebreakageandshatt'cringoftheieaves. 'Ihedeg reeofmoisturewhichisimpartedtothe streamofairpsiortoitspassagethroughthe chamberisinsumcienttowettheleaves. Inpr'ior artmachinesofthis'generaltypasumcientmcisturehasbeenimpartedtotheleaveatowetthem ortoproducewetspotsmtheleaveaHihewet- 'ting'of the leaves is. in certain instances; most Inamodiflcationofmymethodandapparatus, a blast ofiheated and moistened airis directed againsttheleavesbymeansotanoaslemoimted uponthe upperendofapipeorheaderwhich extendsupbetweentheleavesofthehand. The nosaleusedupontheheaderisso'duigned that .it proilctlblastsof substantially horizontally upontheleaveaofthehani In priorart machines, blasts of air or other fluid have been directed eitherupwardLv against a ed ndingends oftheleavesofthehandsor. naw against the butts of the hands. The arrangements of these prior art machines have not been entirely satisfactory due to the fact that "theblastsofairorfluidare noteil'ectiveupon the interior leaves of the hand. Also. the upwardly directed blast tends to deposit upon the upper portions of the-hand and under the tie leaf, the dirt removed from theiowe'r portions of the hand.

The shaking or oscillation of the hands in the manner performed by my apparatus and followed inmy prooesaaocompanied by treatment with warm moistair, insures the complete sep-' aration of the leaves inthe hand. Thiswilling crease the eflectivenees of the re-drying.

which:

Figure l is a side elevation or the apparatus or the present invention. portions thereof being the conveyormechanism of Figure 7.

Figure l0isa'diagrammaticviewottheshak- .ing'mechanism.

hands, and

Figure 12 is'a viewof one ofthenozalesused in the apparatus of Figure 11, showing the manner of its usewith respect to the-tobacco hands- For an understanding of the preferred form of my apparatus, it may be broadly described, as follows: The apparatus comprises an endless infeed conveyor (Figure 1) upon which to-' creases by render action e'ven mcre eirectivel sothat thehandswillstraddietheupperrunof the conveyor and have theirbutt ends proiecting upwardly. -'I'he upper run of the conrveyor 22 carries the hands to the left and between the adjacent inner runs of two endless belt conveyors 22 and 22 preferably having resilient faces. The two endless conveyors 22 and 22 constitute a shaking conveyor.- The butt ends of the hands are gripped between the opposed faces of the ms of the conveyors 22 and 22, as shown in Figure 9, and these latter conveyors remove the hands from the inner end of the'infeed con veyor 22. The belt conveyors 22' and 22 carry the hands through the treating chamber or cas-' ing 24, andduring their passage through the chamber 24. the hands are preferably subjected to treatment by a current of conditioned air. At

the same time. vibrating means, generally desig-' nated by the numeral 22, causes the runs of the conveyors 22 and 22 to be vibrated or shaken,

attendants, the leaves of the hands being spread.

with the result that the leaves of the hands will be vigorously agitated. The vibrating means 25 is arranged in such a manner that the belts 22 and 22 will be given a wider shaking or vibrating movement at the longitudinal center of the chamber 24 and less shaking movement toward the opposite ends of the chamber. Upon passage from the le t hand end, (Figure 1) of the chamber 24, the ends will be positioned by the conveyors 22 and 22 upon an outfeed conveyor 26, the leaves of the,hands being guided in such a. manner as to spread the leaves apart so that they will straddle the upper run of-the conveyor 22. As is best shown in Figure 6, the outfeed conveyor 22 is constructed in such a manner that --the crotches of the hands will be spaced above the conveyor, so that a stick 21 may be placed upon the upper runoi the conveyor 22 beneath the crotches of the hands and a number of hands lifted from'theconveyor upon the stick.

The inieed conveyor 22 is positioned exteriorly and at one end (the right hand end as viewed in Figure 1) of the treating chamber 24 and the r upper run of the carrying element 22 thereof moves toward the chamber 24 in order that tobacco hands; indicated by the numeral 2| in Figme 2, will be moved toward and into the chamber 24.

The carrying element of the infeed conveyor aontal shafts iournalled in suitable supports 22.

securedtothe base 22 ofthemachine or to the floor of the building in which the apparatus is positioned. The shaft upon which the pulley 2| is secured is provided with a pulley 25 about which moves a belt 22 driven by a pulley 21 fixed to a shaft 22 Journaled in brackets 22a at the opposite end of the chamber 24. The manner of driving shaft 22 will hereinafter be described in detail.

The chamber 24 is mounted upon the base 22 of the apparatus or upon the floor of the building in which the apparatus is positioned and comprises side-walls 22 and 22a and end walls 42 and 4| and a top wall 42. The right-hand end wall 42 is provided with an opening 424: of a size and outline to permit a portion of the pulley 2| to extend therethrough and also to enable the hands supported on the infeed conveyor 22 to pass into the treating chamber. The two horizontally moving endless conveyors 22 and 22 are arranged 7s bacco hands 2| are placed by the operators or upon sprocket wheels or pulleysso positioned with respect to the chamber 24, that one rim of .each of the conveyors will pass through the chamber 24,both oftheserunsmovingin thesame'directially theisame vertical plane, but above, the upper run of the-rope 28 of infeed conveyor 20.

The endless conveyor 23 is mounted to move about sprocketlwheels 43' and 44' respectively journaled exterlorly of and upon the opposite ends of the chamber 24. The sprockets 43' and 44' are respectively fixed to shafts 4i and 4lb=journalcd in brackets 4t positioned at the opposite side of the longitudinal center line of the chamber 24' 25 from the shafts .4! and 43a in order that theinner run 48 of conveyor 23 will move horizontally through the chamber 24 in contact with the inner run 41 of the conveyor 22.\ The outer run of conveyor 22 moves exteriorly of the chamber 24 along the side wall ll thereof. As shown in Figure 3. the vertical shaf ts 45 and 45b at the left-hand end of the machine are driven from the horizontal shaft 32. .The driving connection comprises bevel. gears II carried at the lower ends of the shafts a and 45b and which mesh with bevel gears 5| fixed to the horizontal shaft II. A pulley" is fixed to the horizontal shaft 3], and a belt 52 rotates this pulley, the beltbeing driven (Figure 1) by the a, pulley 54 fixed to a shaft 55 journaled in bearings "a and driven by a motor I! by means of a worm and worm wheel I1. I

As is shown in Figures 1 and 2, the positioning of the shafts and pulleys upon which the endless conveyors 22 and 23 of the shaking conveyor move is such that when the tobacco hands 2| reach the limit of their horizontal movement upon the upper 'run of the infeed conveyor 20, and before they can be moved down about the pulley I with the conveyor element 28, the upwardly projecting butts of the tobacco hands will move in between the opposed faces 41 and 48' of the respective endless conveyors 22 and 23. The opposing faces .of the last mentioned conveyors will grip the butt 55 ends of the hands between them and will thereby remove the hands 2| from the infeed conveyor 2| to conduct the hands through the chamber 24.

As is best shown in Figures '1, 8 and 9, the endless conveyors 22 and 23 each comprise an end- ,ao less roller link .chain 8|, each link including -a substantially U-shaped portion I, as shown in Figure 8'. A resilient band of rubber or similar material is adhesively or otherwise secured to the outer faces of the U-shaped portions}! of 55 the links of the chain 60. In actual practice, crepe rubber is preferably used fbr the band 62, since it provides a band of high resilient qualities which will securely grip the butt ends of the hands without crushing. The inner runs 41 and 7o 41 of the endless conveyors 2| and 22, respectively, move in track members 63 of substantially U- shaped form, the track members 2 oppositely disposed as shown in Figure 8 and each formed of a plurality of sections 64' as shown in chamber centrally of the latter and in substanmeans of hangers ll positioned at the adjacent ends of the sections. As is best shown in Figure 8, the lower ends of the hangers! are bifurc'ated so that each hanger supports oppositely disposed track sections 04. The track sections 84 members .3 are heldin horizontal alignment by I are provided with rearwardly extending, rivets or bolts 86 extendingthrough apertures in 'the along the length of the chamber 24. The hangersf I extend through apertures II in the upper wall 42 of the chamber 24 and are pivotally mounted at H upon brackets 12, preferablypositioned upon the upper surface of the top wall 42. t As best shown inFlgure 3, the hangers extend upw past their pivot points 1 I and these upper ends e connected by links I! to straps ll of band type which encircle eccentrics II fixed to a horizontal shaft ll extending along the upper wall of the chamber 24, As shown in Figure 3, the links I! are pivotally connected to the upper ends of the hangers ii, and it will be obvious from this that rotation of the eccentrics 15 will cause the hangers CI to swing upon their pivots IL The shaft ll carrying the eccentrics I5 is rotated by a gearing connection "a to an upward extension I of the shaft 4!.

Swinging. movement of the hangers 65 in the manner described above will cause the tracksections 84 to swing or vibrate in a horizontal plane, thereby imparting swinging or oscillating'movement to the inner runs 41 and 4| of the endless conveyors 22 and 23 to shake or oscillate the tobacco hands gripp d between. these runs of the two conveyors.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention,

the hangers of the. trackways l4 at the longitudinal centerof the chamber 24 are swung in a wider are by their eccentricsl! in order that the tobacco bands will be given a more violent shak-' ing action or oscillation at this point in. the Y chamber. To accomplish this purpose, the eccentrics Ii positioned above the longitudinal center of the chamber 24 have a wider throw than the remaining eccentrics. I also flnd it desirable to have the eccentrics on the shaft 18 between the central portion of the chamber -24 andthe ends of the chambers of varying throws,

the eccentrics at each end having relatively small' throws and the successive eccentrics between the ends and the central portion having increased bet and will then gradually decrease to the point.

to which .the hands pass from the chamber. through the end wall 4|. This action is diagrammatically shown in Figure 10. k My apparatus preferably includes means to slightly moisten the tobacco leaves during their Figures 7 and 9. The sections 64 of the-track passage through the treating chamber 24in order 75 4 V arcades that the foreign matter which to the leaves may be more readily removed therefrom, For this purpose, a blower" is positioned on a support 84 above the upper-wall 42- oi the chamher 24, which blower iorca air through a heating chamber 21, the air then passing through conduits ll respectively extending from the side walls of thechamber II to the side walls 22 and 30a of the treating chamber24. As is best shown in Figures- 1 and 2 the conduits ll open tothe treating chamber 24 at a pointclosely adjacent the in'ieed end 42 of the latter chamber. The heating chamber 21 is equipped with steam pipes 28 which may be supplied with steam irom'any :lo suitable source and a steam nozzle II- also opens.

into the chamber". The air through the chamber "will thus be heated to the desired degree and will be moistened to some extent by the admixture of steam therewith from the non- Wzlelb. The action of the warm and preferably moist air willbe to soften the leaves and since they are exposed to this air immediately upon entering the chamber, breakageand shattering oi the 28 leaves will be prevented.

The blower I! may bcgriven from any suitable source 01 power.

An endless conveyor ii is positioned in the element I, which is shown in detail in Figures-5 and 6. This conveyor is in the form oi asprocket 40 chain including links III which are provided with upwardly projecting U-shaped members il2, the

opposite arms of whichm'ay-be bowed as shown in Figure 6. The conveyor element I ll moves upon sprocket wheels" ill and I24 which are 5 spaced from each other and so arranged that the upper run lili of the conveyor 28 will be somewhat lower than the conveyors 22 and 22 and will receive tobacco hands ted outwardly from the chamber 24 by the conveyors 22 and 22. The

50 sprocket wheels I22 and I04 are fixed to the shafts 38 and II respectively. As hasalready been explained, the smart I! is driven from the motor 56 and this causes the sprocket chain I" to move aboutthe two sprocket wheels with its 55 upper run moving in a direction away irom the chamber 24. p Y .7

4 Tobacco hands moving out of the chamber 24 through the aperture 4la in the end wall 4| of chamber 24 and gripped between the elements so of the conveyors 22 and 22 will have the leaves thereof spread by an inward projection I21 of a sprocket wheel housing enclosing the portion 01' the sprocket wheel ill! which extends into the chamber 24.v The hands will thus straddle the v as upper run ill oi the conveyor 22, and, when the hands have been conducted to a-point where their butt ends will no longer be engaged between the conveyors 22 and 22, they will be in straddling position with respect to the upper run of con- 7o veyor 2|. As is shown in Figure 6, the upwardly itisonlynecessary placs-afstickluch-asfl upon the upper runilI of the conveyor 20, the end oithc stick being held in" the hands the operator. when ent tobacco hands moved out upon Q the'lengthoitheatickTLthestickmayberaised vertically. thus iiiting'the tobacco hands irom.

' The stick 21 is preferably the type stick which is used to. support tobacco hands uring-their through a re-drying' ma- 1o chine and it may bepiaced'upoti the conveyor of such a machine to permit the tobacco hands tobe r'e -dri A modified form of moistening and air-treating apparatus mus'in-the chamber 24 is shown in Figures 1-1 and 12. This apparatus includes 9.

wer I! and heatlngchamber l|',simiiar to th already dcscribed. the heating-chamber.

' bcingheated-by means. oi steam passing through steam coils 22'. A jetof steam is also supplied to the heating chamber t1 by means of a steam nosale 24'. The chamber 21' passesthrough a conduit 22', which air passing through the. heating conduit extends into the 24 and communicates with a header [2! which is provided 25 :with projecting pipes I21. At-their upper ends, the pipes .l2iare provided with a pair oi oppositely opening nozzles I22. The pipes l2 l are so positioned with respect to the inner runs oi the conveyors 2| and 22, that the air blast from the nozzles 122 will be directed hori-' sontaily against the leaves at the inner portion oi the tobacco hands 2|. As shown in Figure 11, a relatively small number oi-the pipes i2! will be provided in the chamber 24 and such pipes will be positioned closely adjacent the inteedend 42 ct the chamber 24.

The positioning or the ma l22 whereby air is directed horizontally with respect to the leaves .0! the tobacco hand willcause the leaves of the hands to be spread and properly conditioned for their shaking'action. It the apparatus illustratedin l'iguresdi andizisusedinthe'chamber 24. it wiil.be

unnecessary to provide the chamber 24 with conduits 20 such as shown in.45 Figures 1, 2, 3 and "l. 'Iheapparatusoil'igure' 11 is otherwise similar to the structure illustrated in Flguresl to 10 and would include a dirt removing conveyor in the lower portion of the treating chamber. j

Itwillbeobservediromtheabovethat bymy apparatus and me'thod. tobacco hands will. be thoroughly cleaned and prepared and that the use 0! the apparatus will inno way interfere with the practice now followed oi mixing the. 5- hands oi'-tobacco andpassingthemthrougha re-drier upon the usual type or stick, since the hands may be placed upon the ini'eed conveyor 22in the'desiredo andwillbe arranged in that order upon the outi'ccd conveyor 28. 6

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details oi construction shown in the drawings and that'the examples oi the use or the apparatus-and method which have been ,ment. said means being operative to impart difrerent degrees of shaking action to diilerent pore conveyor 2 tocover g means to condition the atmosphere in said chamtions of said conveyor,and means to operate said conveyor and shaking means.

2. An apparatus of the class described comprising a treatingchamber, an endless conveyor mechanism moving in saidtreating chamber and adapted to support tobacco hands and-move the same through said chamber; means to feed tobacco hands to said chamber and conveyor, means to receive tobacco handsirom said chamber and said conveyor, means to shake said conveyor, means to, supply conditioned fluid to said chamber, and means to drive said said means.

-3. An apparatus ,oi' the class described comprising a treatingchamber, a pair or endless conveyors having portions of their respective runs in "opposed relation during movement through said chamber; means to feed tobacco hands to said conveyors at one end 0! the opposed portion of their runs, means to receive tobacco hands from said endless conveyors at the opposite end of the opposed portion of their runs, means to shake the opposed portion 01' the runs oi said conveyors,

her, and means to drive said conveyors and said means. I v

4. An apparatus of the class descrlbedcomprising a treating chambenapair oi endless conveyors having portions of their respective runs in opposed relation during movement through said I chamber, means tofeed tobacco hands to said opposed portion of their runs. means to shake the opposedportion oi. the runs of said conveyors,

diiierent sections of the opposed portions being shaken to diflerent degrees, means to condition the-atmosphere in said chamber, and means to drive said conveyors and said means.

v 5. An apparatus or the class described comprising a treating chamber, a conveyor adapted .to support tobaccohands thereondn straddling position and with their butt ends uppermost, a

I conveyor and sumleaves or the hand inga treating chamber, means to support tobacco hands and; move the came through said with their leafy portions in depending position.-

" 8. An apparatus for treatingd baccocompris means to direct a current of fluid against the leaiy portions to'cause foreign matter thereon to be loosened, and means to subsequently shake the hands sumciently to remove foreign matter therefrom;

m7 9. An apparatus 0': the class describe comprising a treating chamber, a conveyor to support tobacco hands and move the same through said chamber, means to shake said conveyor during its movement and thereby remove dirt from the tobacco hands, means to receive the dirt and remove the same from thechamber, .and means to operate said conveyor and said means,

10. An apparatus of the-class described-comprising conveyormeans to support tobacco hands, and means to shake said conveyor means transverseiv of its direction oi movement, said means 7 being operative to impart diflerent degrees of shaking action to different portions of said conveyormeanait. An apparatus or the class described comprising moving band members having portions thereof opposed to support thebutt' ends of to-' bacco hands therebetween' with the leaves of the hands iree and pendant, andm'eans to trans-- versely shake the opposed portions of said band 12. An apparatus or the class described comprising members-having portions thereof in opposed relation to support the butt ends of tobacco hands therebetween with the leaves of the hands free and pendant, means to shake said opposed portions of said members, means to feed,

tobacco hands to said members at one end oi. said opposed portion, and to receive. tobacco hands from said members'at the opposite end of .said opposed portion.

is. An apparatus of the masses comconveyor mechanism moving'within saidcham- 7 prising endless members having portions thereber and adapted to receive tobacco hands from. 01 in opposed relation to support the butt endssaid first-named conveyor and to grip the butt of tobacco hands therebetween with the leaves hands in straddled position thereon with the ends oi the hands, means to'shake said conveyor 0! the hands free and pendant, means to shake mechanism, a second conveyor adapted to receive said opposed portions of said endless members,

tobacco hands from said conveyor mechanism, means to feed tobaccohands to said endless said second conveyor adapted to support the members at one end oi-said opposed portion, and

means to receive tobacco hands from said endless. members at the. opposite end of said opposed portion. J I

14. An apparatus of the class described comcrotch oi the hand spaced above said second-con- 'veyor, anddriving means for said apparatus.

-6."I'he combination with a tobacco treating through, of conveyor means to receive tobacco bacco hands therebetween with the leavesoi the hands from said supporting mechanism, said hands free and pendant, meansto shake said op:

conveyor means including a conveyor element arranged to support a tobacco hand in straddled position on the conveyor means with a space be- A neath the crotch oi the hand to permit the inhand.

sertion of a tobacco supporting stick between the OODVBYOI' means and the crotch oi the tobacco 1 fluid against said leafy portions, said meansineluding a nomle positioned to be within the leafy portion 01' thehands and to direct the, current of posedportions of said members, 'diii'erent secmachine including a supporting m to prising members having P 3 9 ll in D- I support tobacco hands during movement thereposed relation to support the butt ends of totions. of. said opposed portions being shaken to diflerent degrees, means to feed tobacco hands to said members at one end of said opposed portion, and means to receive tobacco hands from said members at the op ite end oi. said opposed portion. 15. An apparatus of the class described comprising a conveyor adapted to support tobacco hands in straddling position thereon, conveyor means to receive the tobacco hands from said conveyor and'to support thehands by their butt ends with their leaves free and pendant, means to shake said conveyor means, and means to receive the tobacco hands irom said conveyor 16. An apparatus of the described'comprising'a conveyor adaptedto support tobacco hands in straddling position thereon, a treating chamber, conveyor means-in said treating c mher to receive the tobacco hands from said conveyor and tosupport the hands by their butt ends, means to shake said conveyor means, and means to receive the tobacco 'hands from said conveyor means and support the same in strsddlin'g position.

1'1. An apparatus of the class described comprising a conveyor adaptedto support tobacco 'handsinstraddiing hands in straddling position thereon, conveyor means to receive the tobacco hands from said conveyor and to support the hands by their butt ends, means teshake said conveyor means,'and. means to receive the tobacco hands from .said conveyor means andsupport in-straddling position, said last-named means including supporting elements for the hands provided with a a space to permit the insertion of'a tobacco hand supporting stick beneaththe butt ends of the hands. Y

18. An apparatus of the class described comprising a conveyor adapted to support tobacco podtionthereon, conveyor meinstoreceivethetobaccoliandsiromsaid conveyor andto support the hands by their butt ends with their leaves free and pendant, means to shake said conveyor means, and means to re ceive the tobacco hands from said conveyor means and support the same in straddlingposition, said last named means including supporting elements for the hands provided with a space to permit. the insertion of a; tobacco hand support- 1118 stick beneath the butt ends of the hands.

19. An apparatus of the class described comprising a treating chamber, conveyor means in said treating chamber to support tobacco hands, andmeans toshake said conveyor means transversely of its direction of movement, said means being operative to impart diflerent degrees of shaking action to diiferent portions of said conveyor 11188-118.

20. An apparatus of the class described comprising a treating'chamber, moving band mem-,

here in said treating chamber'having portions thereof opposed to support the .butt ends of tobacco hands therebetween with the leaves of the hands free and pendant, and means to trans.-

? verseiy-shake the opposed portions of said band members being movable with members. 7

21. In an apparatus of the class described, supporting members having portions thereof in opposed relation to support tobacco hands therebetween with the leaves of the hands free and pendant, and means engaging the opposed pormeans.

. toshake the conveyor means, and means-to deliver treating chamber, members movable in said treating chamber and having "portions thereof 1 I 10 within said chamber in opposed relation to-sup- 6 I a,1cs,oes 4 I h meansandsupportthe handsinstraddiingpos r- 2a. m an apparatus of the class described, a tion. treating chambenn'iembers movableinsaid treat-. 1

ping chamber portions thereof within port tobaccohands, and means enga n the opposed portions 0'! said members toshake the.

same. said members being movable with respect to said means. g I

25. In an-apparatus of the class described, a pair of endless band members having portions thereof in opposed relation to support tobacco hands therebetween, U-shap'ed members engag ing the. opposed portions of said members, and means to shake said u-shaped members.

26.-I,n an apparatus of the described, a of endless band members having portions thereof in' opposed relation to-support tobacco hands therebetween, U-shaped members engag ing the opposed portions of saidmembers, and means to shake said U-shaped members, said band members being movable with respect to said U-shaped members. a

27. An apparatus of theciass described comprising a treating chamber; an endless conveyor mechanism movingin said treating chamber and adapted to support tobacco hands and move the a same through said chamber, means to feed 'tobacco hands to said conveyor, means to receive tobacco hands from said conveyor, means to shake said conveyoh means'to supply conditioned fluid to said chamber, and means todrive said conveyor andsaidmeans. a

28. The process of cleaning tobacco leaves comprising warming. the leaves sufficiently to cause themtoexpandtosuchanextentas'toloosen foreign matter adhering thereto and shaki'ngthe leaves to cause the ior s matter -to iali from the leaves.

29. A tobacco ci u ns apparatus comprising a chamber, conveyor means to support tobacco hands with their leaves free and pendant, means to shake the conveyor means, and means to deliver a current of conditioned fluid against the pendant leaves of the hands from points horizontally spaced from each side of the conveyor means.

30. A tobacco cieaning apparatus comprising a chamber. conveyor means to support tobacco hands in a single line longitudinally of the 0011-1 veyor with their leaves free. and pendant, means acurrent of conditioned fluid against the pendant leaves of the hands from points horizontally spaced from each side of the conveyor means.

v :31. A tobacco cleaning apparatus comprising a chamber, conveyor means to support tobacco hands with their leaves free and pendant. means to shake the conveyor means transversely of its path of travel, and means to deliver a current of conditioned fluid against the pendant leaves of 65 the hands from points horizontally spaced from each side ofthe conveyor means.

v LEMUEL R. KERSEY; 

